Monday Conference – Rhodesia or Zimbabwe
Clip 2: No equality of opportunity
1 min 33 sec
Taken from the TV program Monday Conference – Rhodesia or Zimbabwe (1973)
Original title classification PG – this clip chosen to be PG
Availability of the complete title
Curator’s clip description
Bishop Lamont lived in Rhodesia for 30 years until he was expelled from the country by Ian Smith and his minority white government. He believes passionately in equality for everyone in southern Africa and he argues that Ian Smith’s non-democratic regime does not allow black children the same rights to secondary education as the children of white Rhodesians.
Curator’s notes
This is a good example of how quickly these debates aroused the audience. Well-chosen subjects and speakers, expertly chaired by Moore, make this gripping television.
Monday Conference was the first television program of its kind in Australia. By the end of 1971, it had established its trademark style with Bob Moore moderating a hand-picked studio audience representing either side of a contemporary political issue and one or two invited guests. The program was always good television because the two sides would usually passionately disagree. This program is no exception. The issue has flushed out the white supremacists, the ‘reds under the bed’ brigade and those who believe that the time has come for majority black rule in Zimbabwe.
Janet Bell, curator
